Vietnam opens honorary consulate in New Caledonia, France
	Vietnam-Slovakia Friendship Association Gathers to Welcome 2025

The delegation also included Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang, Vietnamese Consul General in Sydney, Australia Nguyen Thanh Tung, and Jean-Pierre Dinh, Honorary Consul of Vietnam in New Caledonia.

On December 13, Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang held meetings and worked with local leaders.

Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang and delegates took photos in front of the traditional Kanax building after the welcoming ceremony according to local customs.

At the meetings, Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang stated that the visit aims to implement the Joint Statement on the Vietnam-France Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established last October during General Secretary To Lam's visit to France. It serves as an opportunity to connect the priorities of both countries in the Indo-Pacific region and to promote bilateral cooperation, including local cooperation, through the Vietnamese community in New Caledonia.

Providing information on Vietnam's socio-economic development and future orientations for Vietnam-France relations, Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang affirmed that Vietnam-France relations have endured historical ups and downs but are currently at their best. She emphasized that Vietnam highly appreciates the role of France and the European Union in the Indo-Pacific and is ready to promote cooperation with partners to contribute to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world. She stressed that Vietnam values its traditional friendship with France and with French overseas territories such as New Caledonia.

Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang held talks with High Commissioner Louis le Franc.

Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang highly appreciated the economic potential of New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific region and expressed her desire to collaborate with New Caledonian partners to identify specific projects and initiatives to enhance bilateral economic cooperation. She emphasized the importance of leveraging opportunities from the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement and exploring potential areas such as mineral exploitation, aquaculture, tourism, marine resource development, and agronomy.

Regarding the Vietnamese community in New Caledonia, the Deputy Minister expressed her joy at the community's successful integration into the local society. She acknowledged their positive contributions to local development and highlighted their role as a valuable asset and important bridge in strengthening the relationship between Vietnam and New Caledonia.

Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang also reiterated the policies of the Party and the State of Vietnam, which always consider overseas Vietnamese as an inseparable part of the Vietnamese ethnic community. She expressed her hope that the New Caledonian government would continue to create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study, and work locally, as well as support the activities of the Honorary Consul of Vietnam Jean-Pierre Dinh.

The French High Commissioner and representatives of the New Caledonia government at all levels highly appreciated Vietnam's development achievements and its role and position in the world. He expressed admiration for the resilient and self-reliant Vietnamese people and was pleased with the growing France-Vietnam friendship. He agreed to work together to promote cooperation in areas where New Caledonia and Vietnam have mutual strengths and needs. Local authorities expressed special interest in fostering specific cooperation in tourism, agriculture, mineral exploitation, health, local connectivity, and inter-parliamentary cooperation, noting that these areas align with their international cooperation goals and the Francophone bloc.

Representatives of the French government and local authorities expressed high appreciation for the Vietnamese community in New Caledonia, recognizing them as a united, hard-working community that has made significant contributions to local development, and strengthened the France-Vietnam friendship. They agreed to support the Vietnamese community in maintaining and preserving their culture, establishing Vietnamese language classes, and building Vietnamese book collections to foster a closer connection with their homeland.

During the Dialogue held at the headquarters of the New Caledonia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, New Caledonian businesses showed keen interest in cooperating with Vietnam and hoped that Vietnamese businesses would enhance investment and trade connections with New Caledonia.

On this occasion, Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang presented Vietnam's current potential, strengths, investment attraction policies, and development priorities, affirming that Vietnam is ready to facilitate and share experiences with New Caledonia in developing tourism, agriculture, and agricultural processing.

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